Jaundice be gone

I'm soooo happy he is off the bili-blanket. His levels have started to go down and I finally get to just hold him. He seems to be pretty happy about it too.

First Bath

Some of my favorites so far

How's he doing?

He's an awesome baby. Hi bilirubin levels came down from 17.7 to 17, so we are hoping that his Monday blood draw will show that they are continuing to go down. He seems to be less lethargic and looking around more. He is spending just about every moment on his bili blanket. The only time he is not on it is when he is feeding. I can't wait for him to be off the blanket so we can just hold him.
Someone asked for more pictures and we are happy to oblige. Here are some pictures David took Friday while we were waiting for his first doctor's appointment.

The dogs are doing pretty good getting used to him. They are both very curious and somewhat protective of him. When one is near him they won't let the other go near him. They are exhausted because they have to be there when he makes a move or sound.

Birth Story

I've always been curious of other's birth stories so I thought I'd share mine and of course some pictures of Isaac.

Sunday morning I started having contractions, nothing out of the ordinary but I could get back to sleep at 2am so I started timing them. At 4am they were coming every 10 minutes but they didn't seem that bad, just uncomfortable. Around 5:30 I woke David and let him know that the contractions were coming closer together and that I thought my water broke (it didn't). I call the on-call doctor at 6am and she tells us to go to the hospital. We get to the hospital about 7am and they but me on monitor and do a test to see if my water broke. We find that my contractions are 5 minutes apart but my water did not break and that I am only 1cm dilated. I was 1cm the week before so I was kinda bummed that it was early labor. By noon I'm still 1 cm dilated and having contractions every 2 minutes. The doctor gives us the option of laboring in the hospital or at home. I decided to go home.

When we got home I was able to take a nap and my contractions then slowed down. By dinner time they started picking up again and I was not able to sleep that night. David helped me through most of the morning hours since I was having intense back pain. At 8am I call my doctor see what to do and she tells me to come in to the office to get checked. It turns out I am now 5cm and she tells us to go to the hospital. At the hospital I make use of the jacuzzi and their massage therapist. My water breaks at 3:30 and the contractions then become very painful. At this time I am only 6 cm dilated, kinda bummed that I have labored for so long and not making much progress. The massage therapist was heaven sent, she stayed with me most of the day helping me labor with out medication. At 6pm I'm 8cm and just feel like I can't take it anymore. I'm completely exhausted and am falling asleep in the 2 minutes in between contractions. I end up getting an epidural and make it to 10cm in just an hour. I then started to push, but my contractions weren't coming that frequently. So after an hour of pushing we tried Pitocin to make the contractions more regular, but it didn't help. I requested that they use a vacuum extractor but I had no energy left to help push him out and he just wasn't coming. The doctor then did an episiotomy and pulled out his head. I was supposed to help push out his shoulders but I couldn't. She pulled him out and in the process I tore in two other places. The epidural had worn off so I was in an incredible amount of pain and was given two more doses of medicine before repairs were made.

My birth plan was to try to deliver naturally and I feel that everyone was very supportive in trying to make that happen. Honestly, I knew that his birth wouldn't go as planned (what does?), but I wouldn't change a thing about what I went through. And yes I would do it again, because he is the most precious gift from God.

Welcome Home!

We made it home last night around 10pm.

Happy New Year!

Not home yet. Isaac Evander is spending a little time in the Special Care Nursery this New Year's Day for some jaundice. Hopefully we can go home some time today.

Our little glow worm.

weottababyitsaboy

38 weeks

Went into labor this morning, should have a baby tonight or tomorrow.

Movie Reviews

It had some funny parts, but there were parts that you definitely don't want children to see. It is rated PG-13 and David just keeps telling me that times are changing. I'd say it's a rental if you even want to see it.

Marley and Me is a different story. I absolutely loved this movie even though I cried a few times. If you are a dog person then you will probably like this movie. If you have a neurotic dog or know one, then you will love this movie. No need to rush out the the theater, it will be just as good as a rental.

Who's feet are these?

They don't look like mine.
Today after a watching a movie at the theater. On our honeymoon in Tahiti.

Happy Birthday Jesus!

We made a Birthday Brownie for Jesus last night and sang Happy Birthday this morning before having some Birthday Brownie for breakfast.

Double Take

I seem to be surprising alot of people when I go out. I've been told that I don't look pregnant from the front or when I'm wearing my coat, but when I take of the coat and turn to the side...there's no question.

Christmas lights

We packed up the dogs, some hot chocolate, and went looking at Christmas lights in our Pj's. What a nice stress-free Christmas time activity.

37 Week Doctor Appointment

I'm smaller and it's not because the baby lost weight, it's because he's dropped more. This is promising. It's a good indication that I will be able to birth this baby. He's at a -2 station and I'm 1 to 1.5 cm dilated. The doctor doesn't think that we'll make it to my due date, but she doesn't think it will happen in the next week either. We have an appointment next Wednesday for an ultrasound just to make sure he's not too big for me to deliver. Here's a 37 week picture for you guys.

Physically Fit

I decided to see what Wii Fit had to say about how fit I am and it turns out my Wii age is 28, so I'm in great shape but I'm obese. Their suggestion was for me to watch what I eat, boy will they be surprised when I check back in after little Huang is here.

36 week Doctor Appointment

I gained 3 pounds in 5 days but am not any more swollen than I was before. No protein in the urine today so she will just monitor me for preeclampsia. The doctor feels that the weight gain is the baby and my swelling. It's too early to tell if I'll need a C-section due to his size, we will do an ultrasound in 2-3 weeks to see how big he is if I haven't gone into labor by then. He has dropped a little more. I'm excited that he is a very healthy boy.

Calling All Out of Towners

Family and friends that are out of town, it's time for you to set up a Skype account and add me as a contact. Since we won't be with you for Christmas, we'd still like to see and talk to you through Skype. Also when little Huang comes, I'm sure you'd all like to see him through Skype.

Hedgehog?

I saw this hedgehog from Fisher-Price and wanted to make one. Well I think I did pretty good considering I didn't have a pattern. I know he has a anteater nose, hedgehog body, and slug tail. But it's still fun to play with.

35 week Dr. Appt.

I gained 4 pounds in a week, which is not good. The doctor believes that it is all swelling and we will see what happens with that over the next week. My blood pressure is good, but with the weight gain and swelling she thinks it may be preeclampsia. The baby did drop a little, I'm 25% effaced and not dilated at all. She wants me to take it easy, but I'm not sure how to take it any easier.

Smile

I'm not sure what happen to the video but it is worth watching. You can find it here. It is 16 minutes long, just to warn you.

History of Christmas

Good video on the history of Christmas is here.
Other Xmas facts

• Only last year did I discover that Christ was not born on December 25. It is unknown when He was actually born but we celebrate it on the 25th of December to overshadow a pagan festival.
• Happy Holidays came from Happy Holy Days.
• The wise men did not come to see Jesus until he was a toddler or older.
• Xmas is derived from the Greek alphabet which means Christ.
• Christmas didn't become popular until the 19th century. Celebrations and caroling were outlawed and called the Blue Laws. It was expected to be a solemn day.

35 weeks

How your baby's growing:

Your baby doesn't have much room to maneuver now that he's over 18 inches long and tips the scales at 5 1/4 pounds (pick up a honeydew melon). Because it's so snug in your womb, he isn't likely to be doing somersaults anymore, but the number of times he kicks should remain about the same. His kidneys are fully developed now, and his liver can process some waste products. Most of his basic physical development is now complete — he'll spend the next few weeks putting on weight.

How your life's changing:
Your uterus — which was entirely tucked away inside your pelvis when you conceived — now reaches up under your rib cage. If you could peek inside your womb, you'd see that there's more baby than amniotic fluid in there now. Your ballooning uterus is crowding your other internal organs, too, which is why you probably have to urinate more often and may be dealing with heartburn and other gastrointestinal distress. If you're not grappling with these annoyances, you're one of the lucky few.

Videos of Little Huang

Ok, I know it's probably not that exciting for most of you out there, but I can't stop watching him.

The numbers are in

Baby is weighing about 6 pounds 2 ounces at 34 weeks and 3 days. He is also measuring 10 days ahead of schedule. Doc said that she expects him to come in at 8 pounds and on schedule. He is supposed to gain a half a pound a week, so if he does come on schedule then he will be about 9 pounds. The doctor states that the ultrasound measurements aren't that reliable. Wow he is a big boy and very healthy. I now start to see the doctor every week.

On another note, my fingers have been replaced with sausages and my ankles seem to have gone missing too.

Garmin Nuvi

If you have a Garmin Nuvi, you can download two new voices. It makes me wish mine was a Nuvi. http://www8.garmin.com/vehicles/voices/